In Mommysattva, writer, meditation teacher, nutrition therapist, and mom Jenna Hollenstein envisions motherhood as the most spontaneous, impossible, and hard-won path to wisdom and compassion.

The book is not a guide to motherhood; it's a collection of bite-sized essays examining motherhood as a spiritual journey that includes compassion and vast expansion of the heart. It explores many of the felt experiences of those who mother--from the intense metamorphosis of becoming a mother to the practice of motherhood as a teaching on what it means to be present to a mother's innately activist role in bringing about positive change. And also irritation, resentment, endless snacks, and, sure, vomit. How to bring it all to the path without shame, virtue signaling, or setting up endless years of therapy for your kid? Hollenstein, in a deeply honest exploration of her own journey as a mother as well as her Buddhist practice, offers a view of motherhood that is deep, kind, and real.

The essays shimmer with the message that every single thing we do as mothers is an opportunity to embrace the power, love, chaos, and possibility of this magnificent path.

Mommysattva: Contemplations for Mothers Who Meditate (or Wish They Could), Jenna Hollenstein, Lionheart Press, Paperback, 266 pp, $16.95

Jenna Hollenstein, MS, RD, CDN, is a nutrition therapist, meditation teacher, and author of five books. Her work combines intuitive eating, trauma-sensitive mindfulness, polyvagal theory, and other embodied modalities. Her work has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Self, Health, Lion's Roar, Mindful, Vogue, Elle, Glamour, Women's World, and U.S. News & World Report. Jenna lives in the greater New York City, NY, area.